Yesterday we got about an inch of snow. So, I decided to get out my Echo PB-500h backpack blower to blow the snow off the porch. Well, I get the blower out, start it up, put it on, start blowing the snow, and the next thing I know, I've got a lightning bolt going from my finger to the throttle of the blower. A lightning bolt is not an exaggeration either. LOL, I visibly saw this happen. Sooo, after the shock, I was like well, what do I do now. I've got this thing running at full RPM on my back, and I just got the crap shocked outta me, so now i don't wanna reach down to the throttle to turn it off because I don't wanna get shocked again. So, after making sure none of the neighbors were watching me, I again reached down to the throttle in which I again got shocked. I finally got the damn thing turned off.

Anyone else had this happen???? It's never done this to me when it's been warm outside. :mad:

CHEESE2009

12-13-2010, 05:52 AM

You will be the first real superhuman powered 'super hero'.

Maybe have.... lol... blowing powers.

That is scary stuff by the way! I woulda had to change my underpants.

jklawncare

12-13-2010, 11:41 AM

hahaha thats so weird
maybe it has something to do with the dry air..

and..ive never heard of blowing snow..does that work well? ahah wouldnt shoveling be faster?

When the air is dry, the electrons can hang around on your body for a long time, charging you up to thousands of volts. That can last until you touch something that can conduct them away, like a doorknob or your significant other.

It be cool to recreate this and videotape it at night!

Did you ever see the movie, The Hunt for Red October? When they are trying to drop a guy off on a sub from a helicopter and they have to be careful cause of static electricity discharge due to the chopper blades whipping around in the cold air?

happens here during the summer so hot and dry air that the static builds up.

picframer

12-13-2010, 06:07 PM

hahaha thats so weird
maybe it has something to do with the dry air..

and..ive never heard of blowing snow..does that work well? ahah wouldnt shoveling be faster?

I had a brain storm/fart last winter, offer blowing snow off cars at a dealership, we put in a bid and it was accepted however this year their snow removal company is doing it but to answer your question, unless it's wet heavy snow, I think you will be shocked at the results, we use the Stihl BR600's

Hedgemaster

12-13-2010, 08:06 PM

hahaha thats so weird
maybe it has something to do with the dry air..

and..ive never heard of blowing snow..does that work well? ahah wouldnt shoveling be faster?

Funny this topic came up. I was talking to someone the other day and he mentioned using a leaf blower for light snow removal.
I had never considered it, but yes, it works quite well if the snow isn't too wet.

I tried it today using my Craftsman (215 Mph, 470 Cfm) handheld leaf blower and cleared my vehicles, driveway, steps, and sidewalk of the 2-3" of snow that we got overnight. It was a dry snow, so it worked like a charm. I usually use a broom to clear this type of snow from my walk/steps, but this was much faster/easier.

And yes, my neighbor thought I had gone insane. :D

The Cleaning Doctor

12-13-2010, 08:45 PM

When I was working on a phone system in Anchorage, AK I had something similar happen only it was from walking across the office from the door to the jack. The spark (blue in color) jumped almost 2 inches from the screw in the jack to my finger.

Talk about a shocking experience. Then when I went to leave the office I got it again from the door handle. After that I learned that if I grabbed the door handle or touched the screw quickly I did not get shocked.

Now this was only walking about 8' across an office so I assume they had wool carpeting. You could actually hear it POP!

Soooo if you were to grab it quickly like you were trying to catch a rattle snake it would not bite as much.

Hedgemaster

01-07-2011, 12:16 PM

Heh. I was just outside using my leaf blower again to clear my drive/walk/steps of about 3" of fluffy snow. There was a tow truck driver loading up a car across the street who was watching what I was doing and at one point when I let off the throttle, he yelled, "THAT'S CHEATING!"

Ha same thing happened to me a few days ago with my Echo blower...same model brand new last year. Scared the crap out of me! Does this only happen with Echo I wonder? Never had this happen before

MountainViewGreenskeeper

01-24-2011, 11:35 PM

Ha same thing happened to me a few days ago with my Echo blower...same model brand new last year. Scared the crap out of me! Does this only happen with Echo I wonder? Never had this happen before

our stihl does it

Steve

01-25-2011, 03:26 AM

Someone needs to videotape this!

ritchiem

01-25-2011, 07:05 AM

I have had this happen with my PB-650 and PB-750 Echo Blowers. Only when it is wet. Seems to create a ground on the ON/OFF plate. They need a better way to insulate/waterproof the handles. It has always been a problem.